Sunburn
by Darth Phex
Summary: Its not that Seto Kaiba completely deprived himself of sleep. It was the fact that at night the memories of the past made their presence more prominent, and that he would do anything to rid himself of the phantoms in the mirror.


This story was inspired by the song and the music video: Sunburn by Muse.

* * *

:**Sunburn**:

Glancing at the clock, Kaiba let out a soft sigh. He rubbed his eyes wearily to try and clear his blurred vision. He had been working for a good four hours since he got home from work and it was now past midnight.

As he turned back to his work a small groan escaped him followed by another sigh. He had finished several reports regarding some software rewrites for the updates to his virtual reality program and he still had a few e-mails he had to respond to. Kaiba glanced at the clock again to see if he had made the numbers out correctly. 12:36…his eyes widened considerably, it had felt like he had returned from work just an hour ago.

He let his eyes wonder inadvertently to a small picture frame propped up next to the digital clock on his desk. It depicted two figures; a tall boy, Kaiba himself, a teenager though he looked older for his age, and a young child, his brother Mokuba. The taller of the two brothers had dark brown hair (although in the light of the setting sun it shown chestnut) that was a little disheveled in a way that gave him a less intimidating look and in turn made him rather handsome. He had deep cerulean eyes and wore an allusive smile on his lips. The younger had a wild raven mane of hair that stuck out at gravity defying angles; his larger storm blue eyes were wider with an inner mirth. Mokuba was smiling brilliantly up at the camera as his arms encircled his brother's neck and shoulders, forcing the other to bend forward slightly. The elegant frame surrounding the picture was of three Blue Eyes White Dragons, chasing each others tails in a never ending circle.

Kaiba remembered that day well, and he couldn't help but let a small smile slip warmly into his features as he gazed down at his brothers shining face. It had been a beautiful snap shot of a precious memory he shared with his brother. And although moments like those were rare, considering his hectic schedule, it only made them that much more meaningful.

The frame had been a gift from his younger sibling for his last birthday. Mokuba had insisted that he keep it with him in his study, so that he had a little piece of him even as he worked, burning away the midnight oil as he so often found himself doing. The picture, and all others of his little brother, was cherished greatly by Kaiba. However none of them could compare to the one that hung closest to his heart, in the card shaped locket that remind eternally round his neck.

Coming out of his thoughts Kaiba found that he no longer had the incentive to finish his work. 'It's only a few e-mails; they can wait until later.' He convinced himself. He stood up from his desk and quickly saved his work. He ran fingers through his mussed hair as he waited for his computer to shut down.

He didn't like leaving work unfinished; especially because he knew from experience that by morning his inbox would be overflowing. However he had hardly slept the past three days and it was beginning to take a toll on his already heavily fatigued body. It was no small feat being the teenage CEO of one of the world's largest gaming corporations, attending school as regularly as he could manage, as well as acting as the legal guardian of his younger brother, not to mention his dueling pastime. Even so, he made it look easy; always taking everything in stride, acting as if nothing surprised him which it rarely did. Oh well, at least his brother would be pleased to hear that he had taken some time out of his busy to get some rest.

.:.

Kaiba made his way out of his home office and up the stairs in the direction of his bedroom. He couldn't help but hesitate at the door to his brother's room. It had become an almost nightly practice of his to check in on his younger sibling. He soon found himself standing in the door way of said room with little memory of even opening the door. He released a small sigh that he didn't realize he had been holding as he spied Mokuba fast asleep, breathing softly.

The curtains had been drawn back allowing the soft moonlight to filter into the room and illuminate the sleeping figure. Mokuba's mane of black hair was fanned out on the pillows. Some of it fell softly before his closed eyes, gently framing his youthful face.

The young CEO found these nightly excursions to be reassuring, to see that at least his brother slept soundly at night; undisturbed by the shadows and nightly noises that too often invaded his own world. Kaiba couldn't help but smile again as he reached out and brushed a raven lock out of his brothers face.

He spied a small card shaped locket clutched tightly in the hands of the younger. Kaiba grumbled to himself, moving forward to remove it. He constantly found himself berating his brother for wearing the locket at night. But Mokuba refused to listen as the CEO explained that he could easily end up choking himself with the chain. Mokuba dismissed this by claiming that his big brother was simply paranoid and that such things didn't happen in real life. Despite his minor annoyance, Kaiba couldn't help but feel touched by his brother's devotion. Mokuba had stated in defense that he never wanted to feel separated from his brother, ever.

Kaiba gently removed the locket from around his brother's neck and laid it softly on the night stand. He stared tenderly at it, for a time lost in thought. Then on impulse drew forth an identical locket from around his own neck. He opened the two and held them side by side.

They held within two halves of the same picture. It was of the two of them playing a game of chess back at the old orphanage from their childhood. He looked down at his brother's locket, at the picture of his nine-year-old self smiling jovially up at the camera. Likewise Mokuba was beaming up at Kaiba from his own locket. Such happiness had come easily to the two brothers back in those days, back before life with their late 'father'. Mokuba didn't fail to inform his older brother that he had liked it better back in the orphanage, for at least Kaiba had smiled back then. Despite the happiness evident in both lockets Kaiba found himself frowning deeply at these thoughts. He quickly snapped both lockets shut and returned them to their respected places. Unbidden memories found their way to his mind. Guilt washed over him as he recalled what had happened shortly after that snapshot at the orphanage had taken place.

Being adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba had been one of the most significant turning points in their lives. It marked the beginning of a new, painful chapter in their story, for him and his brother. Kaiba released a sharp breath through his teeth as the face of his adoptive father surfaced in his mind's eye.

"Seto."

Kaiba froze in his place and shifted his gaze to the form of his brother. He sighed with relief to find that Mokuba was still asleep and had called out to his older sibling from his dreams. Mokuba shifted, now facing away from the window. He sighed softly and fell silent again and small smile playing across his lips.

Remembering how late it was Kaiba's thoughts once again turned to his need for sleep. With one final glance at Mokuba's peaceful form he turned and left blending in with the shadows. Closing the door softly he left his brother to his dreams.

.:.

The darkness seemed to swell around Kaiba and engulf him as the comfort he felt from his brother's presence dissipated. He felt the silence of the hallways pound harshly on his eardrums, converging with the beat of his heart. This in turn gave him an acute headache. He brought his fingers up to his temples to try miserably to sooth his aching head.

'All this sleep deprivation is getting to me.' He thought gloomily.

Kaiba finally made his way (after what felt like an eternity of stumbling around in the dark) to his bedroom door and slipped inside. He flipped on the light, quickly hissing in pain as the florescent beams burned into the retinas of his weary eyes. Cursing under his breath, his hand blindly groped along the wall to find the dial to dim the harsh lighting. Once his abused vision adjusted, the young CEO shrugged off his trademark trench coat and threw it carelessly on his dresser.

It was sickeningly stuffy in his bedroom and this didn't help Kaiba's pounding headache and sore eyes. He made his way over to the tall glass French doors that led out to the balcony. He quickly unlatched the locks and let the doors swing forward on well oiled hinges. The frozen night's air felt crisp and fresh as it flowed into his lungs. The cool night was comforting after hours of being trapped in front of reports and graphs all neatly organized on a cramped computer screen. He walked out to the faintly curved railing of the balcony. With a sigh he rested his forearms on the railing, letting his weight lean on his arms.

Kaiba rarely used the balcony connected to his room, or any other balcony or ledge for that matter. Not after the fate of his adoptive father. He remembered the day clearly, if for no other reason than for the fact that it had been another huge turning point in the lives of the Kaiba brothers - this time, for the better.

He remembered staring past the caution tape that fluttered gently in the breeze. On the outside he was emotionless and detached, as he gazed down at the broken, bloodied, mess that was once Gozaburo Kaiba the founder and CEO of Kaiba Corporation. On the inside however, young Seto Kaiba was fighting back hysterical laughter. The sheer irony of it all reeked stronger than the sickening, metallic scent of the tyrant's blood. All those long lost years that should have been the pinnacle of his childhood had wasted away. His only regret was letting Gozaburo escape with his own suicide and being denied the pleasure of ending the rotten life when he had the chance, for there had been many chances in which he and his adoptive father had been alone. However, it would have been a shame to rot in a cell for murder over a worthless bastard like Gozaburo.

Kaiba blinked slowly, his eyes widening, as he withdrew from his poisoned memories and lasting grudges. He shivered at the direction his thoughts had taken. What was he thinking? Those dark thoughts no longer had a place in his life. He had changed in many ways since the death of Gozaburo. He liked to think that those changes had been for the better.

He suddenly found himself rather uncomfortable being out on the balcony. He retreated back into his room and locked the glass doors behind him.

.:.

His headache was back. The fresh night air had temporarily alleviated it, but it was now back with a vengeance. He felt as if someone was drilling through his skull. With an aggravated groan, Kaiba made his way to the bathroom connecting to the main bedroom. Again, a flash of pain ripped through his head as he flipped the light switch on. He shuffled his way over to the medicine cabinet. He sifted through the contents for a few moments before he found, with a sigh of relief, a bottle of pain killer.

A coffee mug sat next to the sink, which he grabbed and filled with water. He poured out two pills into the palm of his waiting hand. He quickly took the pills and drank the water down. With a sigh of content Kaiba looked up at his reflection through the fringe of his bangs.

The mirror was wide and spread across the wall opposite the open door leading back into the main part of the bedroom. At different angles one could see a good portion of the other room. This was often useful for those inconvenient times that the younger Kaiba felt it necessary to sneak up on his brother and tackle him with a bear hug.

Right now though, as Kaiba looked in the mirror he saw his chilling reflection gazing back at him through weary eyes. His skin was pale, almost sickly in appearance. His cerulean blue eyes were red rimmed with noticeable dark rings underneath - all the symptoms of insomnia. Its not that Seto Kaiba completely deprived himself of sleep, quite the opposite, Mokuba made sure that his older brother got at least six hours of sleep per night. It was the fact that at night, especially recently, the memories of the past made their presence more prominent.

He didn't like to call them nightmares because it made him sound weak, like a child frightened of the dark. His thoughts turned to Mokuba again. Back at the orphanage he would crawl into Seto's bed at night. He use to explain that he had woken from some kind of nightmare and ask Seto if he could sleep with him. Of course he would never deny him. Seto would stroke his hair and calm him, on occasion Mokuba would cry into his brother's shoulder. He let a smile rest briefly on his lips from the memory of it.

No, Mokuba was not a weak child for coming forward and seeking comfort from his nightmares, nor would he ever consider his brother weak. That's how it was; they protected and loved each other unconditionally. They would do anything for the other because they were all the other had. Gozaburo understood this.

Seto had worked hour after hour on menial assignments and pointless tasks while Gozaburo watched him like a hawk. If he did anything that displeased his stepfather, no matter how small the offence, he would be 'punished'. If after being punished Seto still did not comply with his father's wishes, Mokuba would be punished. This never happened though, Seto would never let it. He was his brother's protector and as such either gave into Gozaburo's wishes or else took the heat for his brother when ever he could. He remembered Mokuba's pain filled eyes as Seto had left him to follow their adoptive father away to be "taught a lesson". As fat tears ran down his little brother's cheeks a single thought repeated like a silent prayer through his mind, "This is for both our sakes Moki."

A shiver ran up his spine as the memories receded to the back of his mind. After all those long years, Kaiba had managed to keep his brother untouched and innocent, and it was well worth it - because it _had_ been for both their sakes. As long as Mokuba was safe and happy Kaiba could always pick himself back up again. Nothing could destroy the love and absolute devotion that the two brothers shared. Although Gozaburo had definitely tried though, leaving a permanent scar on Seto's psyche. The worst of the horrors had a tendency of resurfacing in the night.

'And now we've come full circle.' He thought wearily to his reflection.

.:.

Kaiba was brought out of his troubled thoughts when he noticed the lights in the bath room flutter momentarily then flicker off.

"Damn cheep florescent light bulbs." He muttered under his breath in frustration. He found it strange however that all four light bulbs in the bathroom had gone out at once. A quick glance in the mirror at the adjoining bedroom confirmed that it was only the bathroom lights that had malfunctioned and that they were not suffering a blackout.

His head snapped back up and did a double take. He could have sworn that he had seen a figure in the mirror. 'Mokuba?' He thought with uncertainty. He turned to face the bedroom and scoped his surroundings with weary eyes. 'Must have just been the shadows.' He thought to himself quickly dismissing the apparition as a figment of his over simulated mind.

Kaiba turned his attention back to the florescent lights, experimentally flipping the switch by the door off and on, to no avail. He once again spied a shadowy figure in the mirrors reflection. He tried rubbing it off the surface of the mirror, figuring it was a smudge. Instead the figure's features grew more vivid. With a closer look Kaiba was finally able to identify the individual.

It was himself.

At least, a much younger more innocent version of himself. Kaiba felt, for the second time that night, that he was looking into his brother's locket.

He whirled around and strode into the bedroom, only to find it as empty as he had left it. Not one thing was out of place, and there were no unexplainable shadows lurking anywhere. The lighting was dim, yes, but not so much so that his eyes would manifest figures from the thin air. Feeling thoroughly disturbed Kaiba turned and gazed into the silver, reflective surface of his bathroom mirror through the open doorway. The younger Seto stood no less than three feet to his left, gazing back at him unblinkingly.

'I must be delusional. When's the last time I've slept?' Kaiba thought to himself as he quickly retreated back to the bathroom.

He nervously splashed his face with water from the sink to try and dissipate the illusion. To his immense displeasure he found his younger counterpart still standing silently in the center of his bedroom, his glacial blue eyes piercing Kaiba, sending chills up his spine.

'Must have been those damn pills.' He growled in annoyance. He seized the bottle of painkiller still out on the countertop. He quickly began to skim through the fine print.

"Seto!"

Kaiba felt himself freeze. His muscles became rigid. In the mirror Seto also snapped to attention, his eyes wide with poorly disguised fear.

'No, he's dead…' was the single dominating thought in his mind. Subconsciously he and his reflection, as one, reached for the locket around both their necks. The smooth surface offered little comfort.

"Seto!" The voice called more loudly, almost shrilly. Kaiba half expected the shouting to wake Mokuba.

All doubts of the voices identity were erased when, to his utmost horror, Gozaburo Kaiba made his way onto the mirror's face. Like Seto's younger double, Gozaburo only resided within the reflective surface.

The figures in the mirror continued their interaction, taking no notice of Kaiba. Gozaburo was now towering over the young boy who was trying his best to feint indifference as he met his father's eye.

"Don't you give me that look, you ungrateful little snob!" In the reflection Gozaburo shouted as he grabbed the front of Seto's shirt. In doing so his hand brushed against the card shaped locket. With a sinister smirk, Gozaburo gripped the locket and, with a sharp tug, easily broke the tie.

"Well, what do we have here?" Smirking, he flipped open the small locket to reveal the picture of an innocent, carefree Mokuba smiling up at the monster's face. "I thought I told you not to let that brother of yours become a distraction.

Kaiba watched the exchange with bated breath. The return of his adoptive father's presence made him feel very uneasy. Slowly, he knelt down next to the mirror, watching the mock movie between his younger reflection and the Gozaburo reflection unfold.

"I assure you…father, Mokuba is not a distraction." Seto said with a well practiced icy glair. "Even if he was, you for one should know that I would never let that stop me."

Kaiba couldn't help feel a little proud of his counterpart's response. Even at a young age Kaiba was more capable and more valuable to Gozaburo as a successor than any of the members of the Big Five, if not all of them combined. And he to pleasure in reminding his father of this regularly.

"I could get rid of the distraction all together if I felt it was necessary." Gozaburo growled vehemently. At this a flash of fear shot across Seto's face. "Perhaps its time you learned some respect for you superiors."

Seto's eyes flashed and his face hardened. His next words came barely above a whisper but reverberated in the silence of the room as if it had been shouted.

"I'm not afraid of your empty threats. And I'm not afraid of you."

Watching, Kaiba could tell that in the silence that followed something in Gozaburo snapped. He fought the ever present urge to look over his shoulder to see if the apparitions were really present in his bedroom.

Gozaburo drew in a sharp breath through his clenched teeth. "That was you're first mistake, son."

His fist collided with Seto's jaw before anyone could blink. The force sent the young boy tumbling backwards, the back of his head connecting with the nearby dresser with a sickening 'thunk'.

Kaiba cried out in pain. His hand shot to the back of his skull were the skin was throbbing. He had felt that…but how? He had himself felt the force of the blows that his reflection had received. 'But that's impossible! Their just reflections! They can't touch me!' Even if they could Gozaburo had punched the mirror Seto, not himself. Then again, if you thought about it, reflections weren't even supposed to be in a mirror if what they reflected didn't exist. And these quite obviously weren't ordinary reflections. Kaiba continued to try and reason with himself, absent mindedly rubbing newly formed bruises. He was quickly beginning to panic.

Gozaburo towered over Seto, his face livid with rage. He grabbed the boy by the throat and slammed him into a nearby dresser. Seto hissed in pain, struggling to get free as his spine was forced to bend over backwards. The wood dug into the small of his back as he struggled to draw breath.

"You don't fear me? Well I'll just have to give you a reason to fear me." Gozaburo snarled as he roughly shoved the boy harder into the dresser.

"Leave him alone!" Kaiba cried out at the mirror in dread as he felt pain shoot through his body. "This must be a bad dream." He tried to convince himself weakly. But of course the reflections either couldn't hear him or paid him no heed.

Gozaburo released the boy, letting him fall awkwardly to the floor. Seto's fingers dug into the carpet as his body shook, choking on the air that flew into his lungs. Kaiba could see tears forming in his reflections eyes as ugly bruises formed around his tortured throat.

Kaiba could only watch in horror and pain as the reflection of his adoptive father began to beat Seto. 'No, this is a dream. I'm going to wake up from this like all the other times.' Kaiba reassured himself. As he said this his reflection let out a cry of pain that until then he had managed to quell.

Gozaburo had trapped the frightened child against the far wall of the room, directly opposite the mirror.

"You should have expected this from the beginning, you little brat!" His father screamed, losing his composer, and kicked the boy ruthlessly in the stomach.

The boy gasped, paralyzed by the pain. He wrapped his arms around the afflicted area. His eyes were wide, tears flowed silently down his cheeks. He slowly turned his face up to meet those of his tormentor. Although tears ran from them, Kaiba could see determination in those eyes. Gozaburo would have to do better than that if he hoped to break Seto's iron will. Pain would not make him fear his father.

Gozaburo smacked him hard across the face, forcing Seto's head to snap to the side. "What did I tell you about crying Seto? It shows weakness to your enemies!"

"But I don't have any enemies!...except you." The last part was said in a defiant whisper, but Kaiba still heard it and he was willing to bet that Gozaburo also did.

Enraged, Gozaburo slammed his fist into the side of Seto's head…again….and again. Seto bit into his lip to keep from crying out. Soon blood began to dribble down his chin from the abused lips. Kaiba had curled himself into the fetal position, trying desperately to fend off the identical blows that assaulted him. He backed up across the floor of the bathroom until his back was pressed up against the door frame. It took almost all of his effort to keep his eyes on the scene playing out over his right shoulder and out the door.

Pain now encompassed his body. He could hardly understand how his younger counterpart was holding out against the vicious assault. 'I must be going crazy.' He thought as a trickle of his own blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.

Just then Gozaburo flung Seto to the floor, signaling that his last wave of rage had subsided…for now. Seto stayed were he had fallen, panting. Slowly, so as not to provoke his livid father, he rose to his hands and knees, gingerly he wiped the blood from his chin.

As he lowered his hand it came to rest on something small and smooth. The card shaped locket.

"Mokuba." It was a whisper from the small boy's mouth, but it had caught the attention of the other occupants of the room, drawing all eyes to the pendent.

A wicked laugh was produced as Gozaburo moved swiftly forward and snatched the locket form the dazed boy. Both Seto and Kaiba's eyes followed the locket's path as it found itself incased in Gozaburo's fist.

"My threats aren't so empty any more are they." He sneered. "You have continued to disregard my authority and now you give me no choice. If punishing your insolent little brother is the only way to make you submit then so be it."

"No! Please, leave Mokuba out of this!" Seto pleaded. Kaiba could feel the same desperation claim him. A part of him still felt that Gozaburo was bluffing. The greater part of him didn't want to risk it. Anyway, using Mokuba as a scare tactic was a cheep move, only showing how desperate his adoptive father had become when it came to getting the upper hand over Seto.

"I'm glad you finally see things my way." His father sneered, his shadow looming over the huddled figure on the floor.

Kaiba couldn't remember when the pain had commenced. All he remembered was it had become unbearable. His hands fisted his hair in a death grip, his breath coming rapidly in gasps. Somewhere between the two images in the mirror, the constant throbbing pain between his eyes, the invisible assault on his body, and this seemingly endless night, he snapped.

In despair and a last ditch effort to rid himself of the phantoms in the mirror, he grabbed the abandon coffee mug on the counter. With as much force as he could muster he swung it into the mirror's smooth surface. The mirror shattered, littering the counters face with hundreds of gleaming splinters. At the force of the impact the mug shattered as well, the shards were sent digging into exposed flesh.

Kaiba screamed in pain as he was sliced open. He screamed again louder, however when he looked down at the pieces of glass and found the younger reflection of himself gazing back up at him with tear streaked eyes.

He ran.

All he could hear were the cries of his lost innocence and the insane laughter of Gozaburo Kaiba. He paid no attention to the pain that lurched through his maimed arms and hands as he quickly forced open the locks that kept him from freedom from his madness.

Bloody hand prints smothered the door frame and glass as he forced his way threw, out into the moon lit night.

"I'm sorry Mokuba." He gasped through tears, tearing the locket from around his neck and letting it fall to the cold ground. All he could hear in response was the shrill laughter of his father, till his ears went numb.

"Like father, like son." He whispered to himself as he gazed over the edge. He smiled at his own grim humor.

'Seto was right. I don't fear Gozaburo Kaiba. I fear becoming him.'

All went dark.

.:.

Caution tape fluttered gently in the breeze. Mokuba Kaiba stared numbly at the sight before him, unable to look away. Even if he did, he knew that the image would forever remain seared into his mind's eye. Several police officers finally succeeded in escorting him away from the scene.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kaiba, we found this on the balcony next to the railing. Does it hold any significance to you or your brother?" A police officer asked placing a plastic bag labeled 'evidence' in his hand. Inside was a small card shaped locket.

:End:

* * *

The focus behind this story is not just Kaiba's loss of innocence. It is the concept that he is cursed to follow the same fate and demise as his adoptive father, Gozaburo Kaiba. I didn't dwell too much on what made Kaiba feel that he was becoming his father. If you've read Yugioh then you know his reasoning. I felt explaining what the reader already (or should already) know would be irrelevant to the plot and a waste of yours and my time. Thank you for understanding.

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End file.
